Retroflex click

The retroflex clicks are a family of click consonants known only from the Central ǃKung language or dialect of Namibia. They are sub-apical retroflex and should not be confused with the more widespread postalveolar clicks, which are sometimes mistakenly called "retroflex" (for example in Unicode) due to their concave tongue shape.

The 'implicit' symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents the forward articulation of these sounds is ⟨𝼊⟩ (the symbol ⟨ǃ⟩ used for the alveolar clicks, with a hook diacritic). However, usage is rare. In the literature, retroflex clicks are typically written with the ad hoc digraph ⟨‼⟩, the convention since Doke identified them as retroflex in 1926. (Doke's proposed symbol, ⟨ψ⟩, did not catch on, nor did Vedder's and Anders' ⟨⦀⟩. For a while Amanda Miller, who noted a lateral fricated release (as had Vedder), transcribed them ⟨ǃ𐞷⟩, with a superscript form of the symbol ⟨ǁ⟩ used for the lateral clicks. Another de facto possible transcription is ⟨ǃ𐞝⟩, with a superscript form of the symbol ⟨ꞎ⟩ used for the voiceless retroflex lateral fricative. )

Retroflex clicks are extraordinarily rare. True retroflex clicks occur in at least some dialects of Central ǃKung. The Damin ritual jargon of Australia may have had a voiced nasal retroflex click, transcribed by Hale & Nash as ⟨rn!⟩, though whether it was phonemically distinct is not known. However, Damin clicks presumably reflected the consonant articulations of Lardil, in which the "retroflex" consonants are retracted apical alveolar rather than true retroflex, so it is likely that the Damin distinction could be described as post-alveolar apical [ᵑǃ̠] (⟨rn!⟩) vs a more fronted apical [ᵑǃ̪] (⟨n!⟩).

Basic retroflex clicks are: